Bay City Commission fails to censure commissioner over social‑media post

A motion to censure Commissioner Andrea Bernie Overshaw for an alleged violation of the Bay City Commission’s social‑media policy was debated at length on March 3 and failed to pass on a roll-call vote.

The censure motion, introduced by Commissioner Steven Prince and seconded by Commissioner Hilliker, cited a February 26 social‑media post that the resolution described as violating section 3.4 of the commission’s social‑media policy, which the resolution quotes as prohibiting profanity and defamatory statements by elected officials using official or clearly identified titles. Prince said the body had a duty to hold members to the commission’s standards and noted he had sent a reminder of the policy to commissioners on Feb. 21.

Commissioner Andrea Bernie Overshaw addressed the commission from the public lectern during the debate and defended her right to speak on her personal social media, saying the platform was her private forum and that she would not accept being “censored.” She also criticized the process for distributing the resolution and objected to how the matter had been handled.

In the roll call on the substantive motion, the clerk recorded "yes" votes from Commissioners Morris, Prince, Coakley and Hilliker; the motion did not receive the number of affirmative votes required for adoption. The motion therefore failed and no formal penalty beyond the failed censure was adopted.

Why this matters: The proceeding applied the commission’s internal standards on public conduct and social media to a sitting commissioner and produced a formal but unsuccessful reprimand attempt.

What happens next: With the censure motion defeated, no formal reprimand was imposed at this meeting. The debate highlighted commissioners’ differing views on enforcement of conduct rules and the limits of private speech when an official identifies themselves by title on social media.